When Rodolfo, a penniless poet, meets Mimì, a seamstress, they fall instantly in love. Rodolfo introduces Mimì to his bohemian friends Marcello, Colline and Schaunard, and the group heads to Café Momus, where Marcello reunites with his ex-girlfriend Musetta. But the happiness of the friends – and of budding romance – is threatened when Rodolfo learns that Mimì is gravely ill. Can the warmth of friendship – and of young love – sustain the group of bohemians through the hardships of a cold winter?
La bohème remains one of the most popular operas, and with good reason. Puccini weaves a web of glorious melody throughout, and his music speaks directly to the heart of anyone who has ever been young and loved and lost.
La bohème received its world premiere at Turin’s Teatro Regio in 1896 and its Covent Garden debut the following year. Composer Giacomo Puccini was inspired by Henri Murger’s 1851 episodic novel, Scènes de la vie de bohème (‘Scenes of the bohemian life’). The libretto was written by playwright Luigi Illica and poet Giuseppe Giacosa. It is currently one of the best-loved operas worldwide, and the opera most performed at the Royal Opera House.
